The U.S.-based watchdog, which monitors human rights violations against journalists globally, is also investigating an additional 130 cases of suspected killings, detentions, or injuries.
According to CPJ’s count, the Israeli war on Gaza has claimed more journalists’ lives in the past year than any other conflict in the last 30 years, as reported by Middle East Eye. This period has been the deadliest for journalists since CPJ began documenting such data in 1992.
“Since the Gaza war started, journalists have been paying the highest price—their lives—for reporting. Without protection, equipment, international presence, or basic supplies, they continue their vital work to tell the world the truth,” reads a statement by CPJ’s Program Director, Carlos Martinez de la Serna.
“Every time a journalist is killed, injured, or forced into exile, we lose pieces of the truth. Those responsible face trials both under international law and in the judgment of history,” the statement continues.
Targeting journalists during conflicts is considered a crime under international law.
Before October 7, 2023, CPJ recorded the deaths of 20 Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces over 22 years, with no accountability for their deaths.
In December, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for alleged violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which includes the targeting of Palestinian journalists as evidence.
On October 9, Bolivia joined Colombia, Libya, Spain, Mexico, and Nicaragua in filing a declaration of intervention in the ICJ case.
Other conflicts saw lower journalist death tolls: the Iraq war claimed 61 journalists (about six per year), and the Yemen war, since 2014, has seen 42 journalists killed (over five per year).
